1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to tape dispensers, and particularly to a tape dispenser that facilitates single-handed use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Adhesive tape is a long thin flexible strip with opposite longitudinal side edges and a longitudinal axis centrally between the side edges. The strip of tape is wound around a spool for storage, shipment, sale and use. The spool has opposite ends and a rotational axis that extends between the ends. The tape is wound onto the spool such that the side edges of the tape register with the ends of the spool. Additionally, the longitudinal axis of the wound tape defines a plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool. The combination of the tape and the spool is referred to as a roll.
A roll of adhesive tape typically is mounted in a dispenser. The typical dispenser includes at least one side wall aligned substantially perpendicular to the axis of the spool. The side wall includes structure for rotatably maintaining the spool in the dispenser. The typical adhesive tape dispenser further includes a metal or plastic serrated cutting blade. The cutting blade is mounted to a portion of the dispenser spaced from the spool and typically is aligned parallel to the rotational axis of the spool. A portion of the adhesive side of the tape may be supported and releasably retained on the cutting blade of the dispenser.
The tape may be used by grabbing a portion of the tape with a thumb and forefinger at a location between the spool and the cutting blade. Forces generated by the fingers then separate the tape from the cutting blade and enable the tape to be pulled relative to the dispenser. These pulling forces cause the spool to rotate in the prior art tape dispenser, and permit the tape to be dispensed. After a sufficient length of tape has been pulled from the spool, the user then engages a portion of the tape slightly beyond the cutting blade and urges the tape against the cutting blade with sufficient force to sever the tape at a location adjacent the cutting blade. The severed section of tape then is applied to a substrate as needed. Portions of the tape on the spool side of the cutting blade will remain adhered to the cutting blade for the next dispensing operation.
The typical prior art tape dispenser is not well suited for single-handed use. In particular, a small tape dispenser must be gripped by one hand while the other hand engages the tape and pulls the tape from the blade and beyond the dispenser. The one hand remains on the dispenser and the other hand remains on the tape as the tape is severed. A two-handed dispensing of tape can be carried out fairly easily with a small tape dispenser and for a small piece of tape (e.g., 1-2 inches). In particular, the hand that pulls the tape typically will not have to be repositioned to urge the tape against the blade. The dispensing becomes much more difficult if a longer piece of tape is required. In particular, to dispense a long piece of tape, the tape is first grabbed between the blade and the spool and separated from the blade. The user then pulls a sufficient length of tape from the spool and urges the tape against the blade. The hand that had pulled the tape then must be removed from the free end of the tape to engage the tape at a location closer to the blade. This causes the free end of the tape to move, often in response to electrostatic forces. The free end of the tape often will adhere to itself or to an unintended surface.
The above-described complications can be avoided with a large heavy tape dispenser that has a broad base. This type of prior art tape dispenser can be supported without being gripped manually. Hence, the tape can be pulled from the dispenser with one hand, thereby leaving the other hand free for some other purpose, such as holding the object to be taped. Additionally, two hands can be employed, if necessary, to hold both ends of a long piece of tape.
Both the lightweight and the heavy typical prior art tape dispenser have the problem of manually gripping the adhesive surface of the tape at least once to dispense the tape. This manual gripping reduces the adhesiveness and may transfer soil from the finger to the adhesive side of the tape. The soil, often in the form of a fingerprint, remains on the tape and is visible on the object to which the tape is applied.
It often would be desirable to apply the tape directly from the dispenser to the object being taped. The large heavy prior art tape dispenser that is suitable for some single-handed use cannot conveniently be positioned adjacent the object to which the tape is to be applied. The lighter weight disposable tape dispenser can be manipulated fairly easily. However, the shape of the prior art tape dispenser is not well suited to direct application of the tape from the dispenser to the object being taped. In particular, the tape leaving the dispenser typically defines a plane that extends either through or parallel to the rotational axis of the spool. Thus, the portion of the tape in proximity to the cutting blade typically will be offset from the surface being taped by a distance approximately equal to the radial distance from the axis of rotation to the outside of the tape dispenser. Conceivably, the light weight tape dispenser can be manipulated so that the tape bends about an axis transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tape. This causes an inconvenient angular orientation of the tape dispenser, and typically moves the tape a distance further from the cutting blade than would normally be obtained during a tape dispensing operation. An extremely complicated maneuver of the tape dispenser then would be required to employ the cutting blade and sever the tape. An attempt to use the prior art tape dispenser in this manner typically would require the tape to be cut at a considerable distance from the surface being taped, and hence would require a difficult estimate of the amount of tape that is required to be cut. Through all of this maneuvering, all portions of the tape typically are aligned approximately parallel to the axis of the spool, with the longitudinal axis of the tape defining a single plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool.
The prior art includes some tape dispensers where the tape is twisted approximately 90xc2x0 about the longitudinal axis of the tape as the tape is being dispensed. These prior art tape dispensers also have the longitudinal axis of the tape lying in a single plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool. Examples of such prior art tape dispensers are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,368, 5,595,626, 5,759,341, 6,062,286 and 6,112,796. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,898 shows a tape dispenser where the amount of twist of the tape about the longitudinal axis of the tape can be varied.
Several of the above-described tape dispensers are intended for tapes that have a carrier strip. Thus, these prior art tape dispensers include take-up reels, and means for delivering the carrier strip from the dispensing end of the dispenser back to the take-up reel. None of the prior art identified above is well suited to single handed dispensing. In particular, these prior art dispensers still require the tape dispenser to be held with one hand and the leading end of the tape to be gripped with the other hand for application to the object to be taped. Thus, the problems of reduced adhesiveness and fingerprints on the tape remain. Additionally, the angle of the dispenser during use is not ideal for directly dispensing the tape to the substrate. Thus, inconvenient manipulation of the tape dispenser is required for both the dispensing and the severing of the tape.
The subject invention is directed to a dispenser for a flexible tape, such as a flexible adhesive tape. The adhesive tape is a long narrow strip of thin flexible material that has a length many times greater than the width. The tape has opposite side edges extending along the length of the tape and a longitudinal axis centrally between the side edges. The tape is stored on and dispensed from a cylindrical spool. The spool has a smooth cylindrical inner surface and a smooth cylindrical outer surface that is concentric with the inner surface. The inner and outer surfaces are concentric about a rotational axis for the spool. The tape is wound onto the spool such that the opposed side edges of the tape substantially register with the respective axial ends of the spool. Additionally, the longitudinal axis of the wound tape defines a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the spool.
The tape dispenser of the subject invention may be molded from a plastic material to include a hub, a tape roll chamber surrounding the hub, a dispensing channel extending from the tape roll chamber and a blade at the end of the dispensing channel remote from the tape roll chamber.
The hub of the dispenser is smoothly cylindrical and defines an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the spool of the roll of tape. The hub further defines a central axis. The spool can be mounted rotatably on the hub such that the rotational axis of the spool is substantially concentric with the central axis of the hub. Thus, the longitudinal axis of the tape wound on the spool will define a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the hub.
The tape-dispensing channel includes an upstream end adjacent the tape roll chamber, a downstream end adjacent the blade and a transition section between the upstream and downstream ends. The upstream end of the dispensing channel is configured to receive a section of the tape that defines a plane aligned substantially parallel to the axis of the hub. The downstream end of the tape-dispensing channel is configured to receive a section of the tape aligned substantially perpendicular to the section of the tape in the upstream end of the tape dispensing channel. The transition section of the tape-dispensing channel is configured to twist the tape approximately 90xc2x0 about the longitudinal axis of the tape. The plane defined by tape in the downstream end of the tape-dispensing channel is aligned to the axis of the hub at an acute angle, and preferably an angle of between about 75xc2x0 and 50xc2x0. Additionally, the longitudinal axis of portions of the tape disposed in the downstream end of the tape-dispensing channel is aligned at an acute angle of about 15-40xc2x0 to the plane defined by the longitudinal axis of the tape wound around the spool.
The cutting blade is substantially orthogonal to the axis of the hub and is substantially parallel to the plane defined by the longitudinal axis of portions of the tape wound onto the spool. Additionally, the blade preferably is parallel to and offset from radially aligned planes at either end of the spool.
The downstream end of the tape-dispensing channel preferably comprises a window that extends substantially from the blade to the transition section of the tape-dispensing channel. The window enables the user of the device to apply a finger to the non-adhesive side of the tape at a location substantially adjacent the cutting blade. The finger then can be used to urge the adhesive side of the tape toward and into contact with a substrate to be taped.
The tape dispenser further includes a curved trap between the window and the transition section of the tape-dispensing channel. The curved trap will urge the tape into a slightly arched side-to-side configuration at locations that overlie the window. The arched configuration enables the tape to be cantilevered from the convex wall across the window and toward the blade.
The above-described configuration enables portions of the tape dispenser that define the tape roll chamber to be gripped by a thumb and several forefingers, with the index finger directed toward the window. The above-described acute angle relationship between the tape in the downstream section of the tape-dispensing channel and the longitudinal axis of the tape wound on the spool enables tape in the downstream end of the tape-dispensing channel to be close to the substrate to be taped. The index finger then can be urged against the non-adhesive side of the tape positioned in the window. Forces exerted by the index finger can urge the adhesive side of the tape against the substrate to be taped. The user then merely guides the dispenser along the substrate to be taped. When the blade approximately aligns with the end of the area to be taped, the user merely rotates his or her hand to urge the blade into the tape. Thus, the tape can be severed at substantially the precise location desired, without complex maneuvering of the dispenser. Throughout the entire tape dispensing operation, the downstream end of the tape dispensing channel, and specifically the window portion of the tape dispensing channel can be positioned on or substantially adjacent the substrate to be taped.